Affordable Luxury
For years I walked the retail floor in my Husband's Hugo Boss Shops here in Australia. I got very used to handling luxury clothing and knitwear for both men and women. It was a feast for the senses. My love and appreciation for natural luxury fibres was cemented during these years. I witnessed time and time again the power of a garment to viscerally change how someone carries themselves. The connection between what we choose to put on our bodies and how it makes us feel is a constant source of fascination.
I was lucky enough to wear many beautiful pieces of knitwear during this time as samples to wear in store. These were pieces I would never have been able to afford otherwise. Those retail days, as well as the luxury wardrobe, are well and truly behind me now but the impressions remain.
When asked by KPC Yarns to help develop new yarns for The #Knitwell Collection, I wanted to create yarns that:
1). helped alleviate the environmental burden created by fashion waste and synthetic fibres;
2). were based on sustainable environmental and ethical animal welfare protocols; and
3). enabled makers to have access to luxury fibres at an affordable price.
I want us all to feel the uplifting power of a luxury fibre against our skin.
Enter stage left - our Grace recycled cashmere yarn in Aran and Super Chunky weights.
There are so many benefits to knitting with a recycled cashmere yarn.
🧶 Our recycled cashmere is made from 70% pre-consumer fibres, saving thousands of kilograms of unused fibres going into landfill. The fact that a yarn has been recycled does not mean it is of lesser quality either. Our Grace yarn is made using patented technology owned by specialist mill KPC Yarn.
🧶 The remaining 30% of Grace is made up of virgin cashmere fibres sourced from farms that follow sustainable environmental and ethical animal welfare protocols.
🧶 KPC Yarn has been Oeko-tex Standard 100 certified which means that they are able to guarantee that all dyes used for our recycled cashmere yarns are metal free and skin friendly. The test is applied to every substance used in the dying process and monitors each stage to ensure that no hazardous chemicals with allergic potential are present.
🧶 Cashmere fibres have excellent insulation properties making cashmere a comfortable fibre to wear all year round. You'd be hard pressed to find a warmer fibre to wear in winter as well.
🧶 Cashmere fibres are luxuriously soft and fine making them an excellent choice for babies and sensitive skin.
🧶 Cashmere fibres are lofty by nature and light in weight making your handmade knits and textiles an absolute joy to wear.
Whilst a cashmere yarn is always going to be more expensive than other fibre types due to its very special properties, these two beautiful qualities are extremely competitive in quality, price and meterage/yardage. The yarns are available as an economical and easy to manage 400g cone so you don't have to worry about so many joins in your project. For those of you who enjoy a more traditional experience, you can also purchase them in a 100g ball and a 50g ball.
Grace in aran weight is priced as follows:
I encourage you not to be afraid to use these cashmere yarns. You won't ruin them. I promise. I have heard from so many customers that they aren't confident enough in their knitting/crochet skills to make the investment in the such high quality yarns. Don't let your concern about your making abilities stop you from experiencing something truly magical. These yarns are resilient and very forgiving. Match them with a pattern offering a clean and simple aesthetic and you can't go wrong. You will create a timeless piece that will last season after season.
Yes, this is investment knitting. But I am a big supporter of the notion of buying less but buying better. I wear the samples of the two knits created in the images above on rotation throughout winter. I could not cope without them. You all know how much I LOVE my merino wool. But even I have to admit that cashmere is so much warmer.
If you are interested in giving cashmere a try for your next project, I have set up a special offer of 20% off The #Knitwell yarns when you sign up to my Mailing List. You can sign up through my homepage. Let me know what you think x
